


You've Got The Feeling That I Wanna Feel

by zorana



Series: Take Shelter [1]
Category: Clean Bandit (Band), Years & Years (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 06:43:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4819112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zorana/pseuds/zorana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>@neil_milan: i was just trudging in the rain  & a beautiful angel man ran after me & handed me an umbrella!!!! you were so cute lets meet!!!! i’ll be at the pub at the end of the street we met at 4 the whole next week if you wanna!!”</p><p>Thank you @stepquietly for the uberfast beta and also telling me this didn't suck! <3</p>
            </blockquote>





	You've Got The Feeling That I Wanna Feel

**Author's Note:**

> This is a meetcute based on Neil's amazing insta post about being saved from the rain by a "beautiful angel man!" I did alter the insta text a teeny bit ;) It follows canon for the most part but Olly, Mikey and Emre work in a bookshop while writing the album. Because reasons!

To be caught without an umbrella in London was probably not the stupidest thing Neil had done this month, but it had to be close. To be fair the sky had been a wonderful clear blue that morning and the day seemed to glow with a kind of magical possibility. It was the kind of day you’d find a tenner on the street, or a friendly dog to pet while waiting for the bus that came exactly on time. The kind of day where your practicum would go swimmingly. The kind of day that you might meet someone nice.

It was not that kind of day.

Instead Neil found himself sulking under the awning of a tiny bookshop and frowning at the now miserable, grey sky. He had even forgone a hoodie that morning which meant that he was going to end up looking like a contestant at a wet t-shirt contest before he got to class. All that paled before his worry for his violin. While the case would protect it from the worst of the rain he still had to navigate at least a half a mile of London sidewalks before getting to the university. “Take the scenic route Neil,” he grumbled under his breath. “It’s such a lovely day!”

There was nothing for it, he’d have to run and make the best of it. Casting one last mutinous look up at the heavens, he hurried forward, trying to navigate the crowded sidewalk even as what seemed to be a hundred hostile umbrellas threatened to take his eye out. He hadn’t gotten more than hundred yards when someone bumped into him from behind, nearly sending him into the puddle he’d been edging his way around.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!” said a voice breathlessly.

Neil made no attempt to tamp down his scowl as he turned around to make his annoyance clear. He was fine! He’d be better if people could watch where they were fucking going. Only to be brought up short by the scene in front of him. A slight pale young man clutching a very large umbrella was looking worriedly up at him, hands seemingly reaching out to check that he was okay.

He could only nod in response, tongue suddenly too clumsy to even murmur something polite in response.

The boy seemed to deflate in the silence, shuffling awkwardly as people pushed by them, murmuring in annoyance at the hold-up. Neil was vaguely aware that it was odd that the umbrella was shut and that they were both staring at each other while getting steadily wetter. But he couldn’t say a word, even as his brain clamoured at him to stop staring like an arse.

A particularly loud curse in their direction made them both jump and the boy blushed a lovely shade of pink before shoving the umbrella into Neil’s hands.

“Um, I’m sorry! But you looked like you need it! You know because of the rain! Awful out and it was such a nice day too! I’ll just get out of your way! Have a nice day!” And then he was gone.

Neil finally snapped out of his stunned silence to call out for the boy to stop but it was too late. He’d already vanished into the sea of raincoats and umbrellas that jostled for space around them.

Neil clutched both the umbrella and his violin case to his chest and tried to follow his mysterious rescuer, but it was no use. Obviously fae magical creatures could disappear at will. Still baffled, he looked down at the umbrella and slowly shook it open.

Okay, so it was _that_ kind of day.

* * *

 

“Have a nice day? Have a nice day?! Wow you’re so smooth, Olly Alexander.”

Olly groaned and decided to reintroduce his head to the desk some more. He was so mortified at himself. It had been the perfect chance to introduce himself to the hottest dude he’d ever seen in person and come off as nice and witty and helpful and what had he done? Almost knocked the guy into the mud and then babbled incoherently and then _run away_.

More head thumping was clearly the order of the day.

Before he could do any permanent damage though, a hand insinuated itself between his forehead and the desk.

“Okay we agreed that there would be no self-inflicted concussions during work hours. That’s not covered in our insurance you know that.”

Olly groaned dramatically and let himself be gently pushed back so he was sitting up again. Both Mikey and Emre stood in front of him, grinning a little evilly and obviously ready to hear about his latest embarrassment. For once Olly regretted going into business with people who knew him well enough to actually ask for an explanation.

“I’m so stupid,” he moaned once more. “I met him! And I blew it! Completely!”

“Who?” asked Emre just as Mikey’s eyes widened in shock.

“You met him! How did you finally meet him? Wait how did you blow it? We’ve been gone like ten minutes! Oh my god did you push him in front of a bus or something?”

Emre was now gaping at the both of them.

“ _Who_?!” he demanded. “Who is this person?”

Mikey waved at him vaguely, “Oh sssh! You know who! That hot Indian dude that Olly’s been panting after for like the last month!”

“I have not been panting!” protested Olly. He hadn’t been panting! It wasn’t his fault that the universe had decided to have a guy that looked like he had walked straight out of Olly’s dreams wander by the shop regularly. The universe had a really fucked up sense of humour.

“Yes you have,” said Mikey and Emre together, Emre apparently all caught up on the ruin that was Olly’s life. Fucking traitors.

“No but please tell me how you fucked it up in ten minutes,” continued Emre. “I mean you can usually at least ask them out before it goes to hell.”

Olly glared at him in outrage before turning to Mikey again, “I was _not_ panting! I just thought he was fit!”

Mikey scrunched his face at him a little while coming round the counter to nudge Olly away from the till and set out the sandwiches that he’d left to pick up for lunch.

“You’ve been panting, mate, sorry. Last week you missed seeing him two mornings in a row and sulked and wrote that really depressing song.” Emre drew up a chair to the desk and lounged comfortably, leaning forward to snag his sandwich. “It’s a good song at least. Maybe you’ll write another one now, hey!”

Olly glared at both of them before attempting to storm away and not-sulk somewhere else but was stopped by Mikey blocking the way.

“Uh uh, Ollz. Tell us all about it. Though, if you did push him in front of a bus, don’t tell us because then we’ll have to testify.”

Olly knew from experience the only way he was moving Mikey was a tickle fight (and seriously considered it) before subsiding into his corner still scowling.

Mikey grinned at him and nudged a sandwich closer. “Look I got your favourite. Come on, you know you’ll feel better once you tell us.”

“I know nothing of the sort,” glowered Olly before mournfully picking at his meal. It _was_ his favourite which made things a little less dire. He reeled off the humiliating events of the morning and was back to being face-down on the table before he finished.

“Why couldn’t I have been a normal person for ten seconds!” he moaned. “I didn’t even like, introduce myself. I was just this random dude who shoved an umbrella in his face and ran off. He didn’t even say anything! He must think I’m an utter prat!”

A soft hand — Mikey’s by the shape of it — patted his head gingerly, “Well maybe he’ll come back with it yeah? Give you another shot.”

That just made Olly groan even harder. “I didn’t even tell him I worked here! He doesn’t even know my name!”

Emre, who had been giggling softly since the story hit the “I was going to politely tap him on the shoulder but then some arsehole pushed into me from behind and I almost shoved him into that bloody puddle” part suddenly stopped.

“Ollz? Whose umbrella did you give away?”

Oops.

* * *

 

“Neil! Neil Amin-Smith! Are you even paying attention?!”

Neil jerked into awareness of his surroundings just in time to stop himself from crashing into the door of the practice room. “Yes! Yes of course I’m listening!”

Grace looked at him skeptically as she moved past him to unlock the door.

“No, you’re not,” she tossed back as she started setting up. “You have absolutely no idea what I’ve been saying for at least the last half an hour. Go on, try and tell me one arrangement I’ve talked about.”

Neil scrambled to remember for a minute before admitting defeat. He collapsed down on the seat next to Grace before dramatically flopping all over her.

“I saw an angel today,” he whispered, before laughing and batting away her fingers as they poked at him viciously. “No, no I’m serious! I was going to get completely drenched, yeah? No umbrella and this stupid rain pissing down out of nowhere! And then suddenly _bam_ , this absolutely stunning boy is knocking into me and apologising and then giving me an umbrella? He had to be an angel!”

Grace’s face had just steadily grown more skeptical through his gushing.

“You just got high before coming to uni, didn’t you? Wow, Neil. It’s practicum today!”

“I did not get high!” Neil was insulted. That had maybe happened once. Okay, maybe twice. But he wouldn’t mess up a practicum!

“I’m not high,” he hissed. “See? This isn’t even my umbrella!”

“You could have stolen it,” said Grace, and laughed at the face he made before relenting. “Okay, so this magical person rescued you. Does he have a name?”

The question plunged Neil back into the cruel reality of the situation.

“No. I just stood there like a great big knob and couldn’t say anything and he ran away.” He groaned again and sank down into the chair dejectedly. “I don’t even know his name!”

Grace laughed for a good five minutes before she patted him sympathetically. “Aww, you are really broken up about this, aren’t you? Was he that hot?”

“He was very hot!” said Neil miserably. “He had the most amazing eyes! But also he seemed really nice, y’know? He had this really sweet smile and he decided to help this random person on the street. And I blew it completely! _Argh_!”

Grace made appropriate cooing noises though Neil could hear her still laughing at him through it.

Not that he blamed her. He _was_ being ridiculous. But he couldn’t forget those few moments. The boy had been so very lovely. That shy smile drawing attention to his full mouth. Had he licked his lips? Neil could swear he had. Eye’s flicking quickly over Neil’s body like he liked what he saw. The rain had flattened out the brown curls a bit but Neil’s hands still twitched with the need to run through them. To grip them gently and pull his head back to expose that lovely neck. He wanted to find him again, to follow the path of the rain down that slim throat with his tongue. To ruck up that thin t-shirt and how far that blush went. God, if Neil had met him in a club they’d probably be up against the wall grinding in about five minutes flat. He’d probably be so responsive… writhing...

Neil snapped back to reality on the mortifying realisation that he was half hard just from a daydream.

“I’m fucked,” he whined pitifully. “I really need to find him.”

When this wasn’t greeted with immediate derision, he looked up to see Grace looking a little too contemplative.

“What?” he asked fearfully, already knowing he was going to agree to whatever terrible plan she was hatching. If it gave him a chance. It’d be worth it.

Grace grinned slowly, evil in every way. “You know there’s only one solution, right?”

Oh dear.

* * *

 

It had been a week since The Day, and Olly was going to end up writing an entire album full of terribly cliche heartbroken songs at this rate. He had tried not hoping that he’d see the hot guy again — After all, London was full of thousands of people. It was ridiculous to expect it.

Still... the shop was obviously on a regular route for him so it wasn’t _that_ ridiculous.

But clearly the universe hated him or the hot guy had decided that stalkers waving umbrellas were enough of a reason to change his route because there’d been no sign of him.

Mikey and Emre had been pretty good about it all told. Only teasing him gently and even promising to keep an eye out for “Mr. Hot Violinist” themselves.

It had been stupid anyway. Building a fantasy around a hot dude was one thing but actually meeting him was never going to work out like Olly wanted. The fantasy was the entire point — a way of getting over Craig (and David and Jack and…) that didn’t involve more terrible real-life choices. He had put himself on a stern break after the last fiasco, everything coming too close to a level of self-loathing he had sworn never to descend to again.

But fantasies were allowed. So what if he had seen the tall, dark handsome man hurrying through the crowd and felt a tug of attraction? He wasn’t hurting anyone by idly imagining what would happen if the man had walked in one day and asked Olly to find a book for him, smiling that gorgeous smile just for him. Maybe they’d have gone deeper into the shop, Olly managing _not_ to trip over his tongue, maybe even making him giggle. He looked like he’d laugh easily. Maybe Olly would find the book and turn only to find the man closer than he thought. Olly would be deliciously hemmed in by one hand coming up to rest on the bookshelves behind them. He’d tilt his head up and end up using some ridiculously cheesy line, but it wouldn’t even matter because he’d be kissed breathless.

He’d definitely be an awesome kisser, not pushy but confident, one gorgeous large hand coming up to span Olly’s throat, settling in with calm possessiveness… Well, maybe not so calm after a while...

Olly was jerked rudely from the fantasy as Mikey stomped out of the storage room complaining loudly about the stock not being delivered after all. He stopped to stare as Olly scrambled to regain his balance on the stool behind the counter.

“You okay there, Ollz?” he asked, grinning a little.

Olly flushed even more and flipped him off.

Mikey came over to the counter and pointed at him emphatically. “Okay, this is pathetic we are getting you laid!”

“No, _no_ , you’re not!” Olly flailed a little in panic. “There is already a plan! The plan is me not doing that!”

“That plan exists for like relationships, not hookups,” said Mikey sternly. “We’re going out. You’re picking up. We’ll throw him out in the morning easy-peasy.”

Olly groaned and buried his face in his hands, “Mikey, I appreciate it. Really. But that would really not be a good idea right now.”

He swallowed quietly, not wanting to show how much he wanted to go out, to get fucked up all over again, just because even a stupid fantasy had let him down.

Mikey sighed and ruffled his hair. “Okay, fine. But we need to snap you out of this. You’re too old to be emo, sorry bro.”

Olly giggled. “Fuck you, I could be emo.” He hammed it up to make Mikey crack up in turn, draping himself across the counter in an exaggerated pose and pulling out his best heartbroken eyes.

Emre walked into the tableau and started giggling immediately. “What are you doing?! Put it away, Ollz! Save it for our first video.”

Olly dropped the act and laughed along with them, oddly relieved at being able to change the topic and better with the ridiculousness that were his closest friends.

Mikey still had a gleam in eye though, and it didn’t take him long to stroll up to Olly again, this time with his ipad in hand.

“No,” said Olly emphatically. “No grindr, no parties, no!”

Mikey brushed his protests aside with an airy wave of his hand. “Yeah, yeah, I’m not doing any of that. Though a party would totally work, you big dramatic baby! No, we’re going nuclear on this asshole. It’s time for —”

He plunked the ipad down in front of Olly dramatically.

Olly glanced down at its screen and his jaw dropped open. “ _Craigslist_? _Seriously_?! You _want_ me to hook up with a serial killer and get eaten?!”

Mikey rolled his eyes, “Yes, exactly. That is my master plan. No, you idiot! We’re looking at missed connections because you’re gonna wallow in people who are bigger losers than you and feel better!”

Olly regarded the open page skeptically. “I really don’t think less-pathetic-by-comparison is gonna work, Mikey.”

“The internet always works” declared Mikey regally, poking at the screen to get it to zoom in.

“Umm… Hey, guys? You may want to see this.” Emre sounded slightly constipated from the back office where he’d been printing up flyers for their latest gig.

(Olly wasn’t sure you could call it a gig if it was on a pancake boat but at least they were getting paid.)

“What’s up? Did you open weird buzzfeed links again? Because, dude, I don’t wanna know, okay,” answered Olly distractedly as Mikey seemed to freeze in his scrolling, flipping the ipad towards him so Olly couldn’t see the screen anymore.

“No, but you should _really_ come here. _Now_!” Emre responded, sounding like he was choking now which, what?

Olly rolled his eyes and got up to see what he was on about. He could vaguely hear Mikey follow him as he crossed the shop floor and leaned in to quirk an eyebrow at Emre.

“What? Ariana Grande emailed you and asked you to be her cabana boy?”

Emre just turned the monitor towards him and gestured mutely.

Olly frowned when he saw one of the trashy blogs that covered London events and dabbled in a side of gossip about local bands. Olly was maybe a little proud that one of his screaming break ups had made a side column once.

They’d totally been on his side too. Stupid two-timing Jack.

He looked closer at the luridly pink headline — “This has to be cutest, most tragic missed connection ever! Let’s find this hottie’s angel, boys!”

Olly’s heart began to pound, the text blurring as he looked up at Emre’s equally flabbergasted face.

“ _What the fuck_?” he choked out, “ _Is this a joke_?!”

Emre just shook his head.

Olly couldn’t even read the rest of it, turning away blindly, not caring where he was going as long as it was away from that mocking headline.

Only to run straight into Mikey.

“Fuck, Mikey, get out of my way” he choked out, dashing a hand angrily across his eyes.

Mikey didn’t budge though, not even when Olly shoved at him with all his strength, shoving back so that Olly stumbled against the door. “ _What the fuck_!” Olly almost yelled, “This is just sick, guys! It’s not cool messing with me this way!”

Mikey just raised the ipad and snapped “ _Look_!” forcing Olly to see the screen.

And there he was. Tall, dark, and handsome… with an umbrella. Emre’s umbrella, actually.

He looked at the caption which said —

[@neil_milan: i was just trudging in the rain & a beautiful angel man ran after me & handed me an umbrella!!!! you were so cute lets meet!!!! i’ll be at the pub at the end of the street we met at 4 the whole next week if you wanna!!”](http://fuckyeahneilamin-smith.tumblr.com/post/129225473843/neilmilan-i-was-just-trudging-in-the-rain-a)

Olly’s knees gave out at that point and he slid gently to the ground, gaping at Emre and Mikey who seemed as shocked as him.

“You didn’t set this up?” he croaked out, disbelieving.

“No way, man. How could we?” said Emre quietly.

Olly swallowed painfully and looked down. “I guess not? But… What do I do?”

And then Mikey was dragging him up by the arm and dragging him to the door yelling “Go, go, go, go, go, go, now, now, nownownow!”

Olly tried to dig his heels in, laughing hysterically. “Mikey! Mikey! What the fuck! I can’t just go like this!”

Mikey turned and shook him a little. “Ollz! The ad said he’d wait for a week! This happened last wednesday, right? It’s been a week! And it’s four thirty! Go _now_!”

Oh. Oh shit!

Olly went.

* * *

 

“This is so stupid. I’m so stupid. He’s not going to come. This is so _stupid_ , Grace!” Neil hissed into his phone resignedly.

He couldn’t quite believe he’d been sitting in this stupid pub for the entire week. The first day he’d stayed till almost six-thirty and then crept away ashamed. He almost hadn’t come back.

Grace had made him though. Stroking his hair gently when he crawled into her lap like when they were fifteen and a boy had broken his heart for the first time.

“You’ll always wonder if you don’t go back, love.” She’d poked his cheek ‘til he met her eyes and nodded resignedly.

So he’d gone back. After the first day he didn’t stay past five. He had to maintain _some_ pride.

Today was it, though. He could finally stop looking around for that face every time the pub door opened; stop catching his breath every time he thought he saw a familiar smile.

He’d only seen the boy’s face for a few moments. He really shouldn’t remember it this well.

Grace was saying something as he tuned back into his surroundings. “What’ve you got to lose, honey? I know it’s all a bit ridiculous, but every since those blogs got hold of your post it’s been blowing up. I mean, maybe he’ll see it. Especially if he’s local… And, well, gay.”

Neil snorted in response because that was an added layer of ridiculousness to the whole thing. He didn’t even know if the boy _would be_ interested. But he’d put himself out there anyway like a great big idiot. Plus, it wasn’t even limited to losers on Craigslist anymore. People were tweeting that damn post out like it was the story of the week. He’d gained about two thousand new followers on instagram and people kept asking if he’d met his “angel” yet.

After the first day or so Neil had decided to just go with it. It was kind of nice, he guessed. It wasn’t everyday when people decided a gay desi boy with a crush was something to rally around. If nothing else, the comments on his daily updates gave him a little companionship. It was stupid but he did feel he was less alone while he waited.

It wasn’t helping today.

He’d had to turn the instagram notifications off because they’d been especially frantic, his well wishers knowing that it was the last day. And then there were the smug ones who’d been taunting him from the beginning, asking whether he wanted directions to Disneyland.

He told Grace he’d talk to her again once he’d left the pub and ended the call. He checked the time and watched it tick over to four fifty five.

If nothing else, it’d be something to laugh over with Maya eventually. Not that he’d told her or the rest of his family yet. They’d always tended to worry that he was too impulsive, too prone to putting himself out there. This… thing… had felt too secret to expose to their well-meaning skepticism.

A soft chime signalled that it was five o’clock. Oh well, it had been a great dream.

Neil got up to pay his tab and was surprised when the bartender waved it off, smiling a little sadly. “I know about the thing, sweetie. I’m sorry. I was rooting for you! That boy is a right arse.”

Neil couldn’t help but smile back. “Thanks. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

He was shrugging into his coat when the main door slammed open violently. The whole pub turned to look in alarm as a lithe body stumbled in, looking frantic. It was obviously raining again outside because the boy was soaked, frantically shaking his wet hair out of his eyes, like he needed to find something desperately. Or find someone.

Neil felt like he’d been turned to stone. Again it was like he couldn’t say a word to save his life.

But then it didn’t matter because the boy was coming at him like a whirlwind of mumbles and windmilling arms.

“There are five pubs on this street! _Five_! Did you not notice that?! Yes, you said at the end of the street but there are four different ends! Two streets! I’ve looked like a complete jerk running in and out yelling about you waiting for me for a week! Also, _who does that_? What if I hadn’t seen that damn ad, oh my god!”

Neil felt instinctively that this guy wasn’t going to stop until he was done, so he just waited him out, smiling through the tirade.

He spread his arms just at the right time and his beautiful boy fell straight into him, trusting him utterly to hold him up. In the next moment he was being tugged down into the most breathless, laughing kiss he’d ever experienced.

He was still mid-tirade. “You _wanker_! You would’ve just walked away and I’d never have known!”

Neil broke the kiss for a second and smiled down at the strangely familiar face that shouldn’t have felt so dear to him so quickly, seeing a smile of equal joy and wonderment beaming back at him.

“But you came,” he whispered. And then he was gathering the soaked body even closer. Kissing him fiercely, harder than he probably should for this first time, but needing to taste the mouth he’d been dreaming of for a whole week.

The response was beyond everything he had imagined. The boy was so eager for it, so beautifully hungry and pliant at the same time, arching against him in an effort to get even closer.

Neil had the vague sense that they were practically humping each other in a pub, that he didn’t even know this boy’s name, that they needed to actually figure out whether this crazy thing had any basis past the electricity that was sparking between them like a livewire, but the boy tilted his head back and little and _moaned_ and Neil forgot the world again, dropping his hands to get a good grip before lifting him into the next kiss, glorying in the seamless trust he was being shown.

Finally they had to break for air, both of them panting into each other’s faces, still unable to really shift apart.

And it filtered in that the whole pub was applauding.

“Oh crap!” Neil felt like his face was on fire with the awkwardness of it all, but he couldn’t help laughing, feeling pure joy course through his veins as the body in his arms shook with hiccuping giggles.

He waved a little at the crowd and choked out a thank you before retreating a little to the corner so they could have a tiny bit of privacy.

He gently tilted the boy’s head up and couldn’t resist dropping another kiss on that laughing mouth.

“Um,” he started, “so I’m Neil. I have your umbrella and I thought I’d return it. I also thought I’d like to find out your actual name. Though ‘angel’ suits you.”

That set off another round of giggles.

“Wow, that should really not work on me but _really_ does. My name’s Olly. And I kind of crushed on you from the bookshop I work in for like a month before I saw you caught in the rain. And well, yeah, you know the rest, I guess.”

“A month! Why didn’t you just stop me and say hi?” Neil was horrified that he could have known Olly (Olly! It was great to finally have a name to put with the memory of the face) for that long and missed the opportunity.

“Because you were a complete stranger? And also I was taking a break from, um, boys, as whole. Which I probably shouldn’t have said. _Um_.” Olly blushed and it was adorable.

“Are you still on a break?” Neil teased, unable to help himself stealing another kiss as if Olly’s eager response wasn’t enough of an answer.

“I thought I’d take a chance on you,” Olly whispered and winked.

Neil’s laugh was pure delight. He bent his head and nuzzled in close.

“Let’s get out of here then. I think it’s raining but _fortunately_ ” — he hammed it up — “I have an umbrella we can share.”  
  



End file.
